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Italy’s premier acknowledges ‘fatigue’ over Ukraine war in call with Russian pranksters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office has expressed “regret” that she fell prey to a prank call that induced her to acknowledge “fatigue” over the war in Ukraine.Meloni, believing she was speaking with officials of the African Union, told a pair of Russian pranksters that “there is a lot of fatigue, I have to say the truth, from all the sides. We are near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.”“The problem is to find a way out which can be acceptable for both, without destroying the international law,’’ she said.Audio of the call was released Wednesday and replayed by Italian media. The call by Russian comedians Vovan and Lexus was made in September. The office of Meloni’s diplomatic advisor said it “regrets having been misled by an imposter who posed as the president of the African Union commission.” The call occurred on Sept. 18, in the run-up to the U.N. General Assembly, where Meloni had meetings with African leaders.Foreign Minister Ant...

TransAlta buying Heartland in deal worth $658 million including assumed debt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

CALGARY — TransAlta Corp. has signed a deal to buy Heartland Generation Ltd. and its power generation business in Alberta and B.C. in a deal valued at $658 million, including assumed debt.Under the agreement, TransAlta will pay Energy Capital Partners $390 million and assume $268 million in debt.The company says the deal will add 1,844 megawatts of complementary flexible capacity.TransAlta adds it expects about $20 million in corporate pre-tax synergies in connection with the deal and says the combination will allow it to further optimize operations.The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.TransAlta owns and operates power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:TA)The Canadian Press

S&P/TSX composite up more than 400 points, U.S. stock markets also up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in the technology sector helped lead a broad-based rally as Canada’s main stock index was up more than 400 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 438.88 points at 19,517.88.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 367.84 points at 33,642.42. The S&P 500 index was up 60.55 points at 4,298.41, while the Nasdaq composite was up 178.60 points at 13,240.07.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.47 cents US compared with 72.07 cents US on Wednesday.The December crude oil contract was up 53 cents at US$80.97 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down five cents at US$3.44 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$4.30 at US$1,991.80 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$3.67 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

Hydro-Québec to spend up to $185 billion to increase capacity, reliability

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s public hydroelectric utility says it plans to spend up to $185 billion by 2035 to increase generating capacity and improve the reliability of its network. Hydro-Québec forecasts that by 2050 it will need to produce about twice as much power as it can now for homes and the province’s growing industrial sector.CEO Michael Sabia says the utility plans to spend around $100 billion by 2035 to increase production capacity, as well as the capacity of its electricity transportation network.Between $45 billion and $50 billion will be used to improve the reliability of its infrastructure.Sabia says some of the additional power will come from using new technology in existing hydro plants, and from diversifying its power sources, particularly by tripling its use of wind power.He says it’s too early, however, to confirm whether the utility — which generates 99 per cent of its power from hydro plants — will build new dams. This report by The Canadian Press wa...

Housing supply still outpacing demand in Vancouver market as sales increase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the region continues to see an increase in newly listed properties, but sales still lag behind long-term trends.The board says October home sales totalled 1,996, a 3.7 per cent increase from the 1,924 sales recorded the same month last year. But the total was 29.5 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average of 2,832 for October.There were 4,664 new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties last month, a 15.4 per cent increase from a year earlier, as new listings were 4.8 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average.The composite benchmark home price in October for Metro Vancouver was $1,196,500, a 4.4 per cent increase from October 2022 and a 0.6 per cent decrease from September 2023.Andrew Lis, the board’s director of economics and data analytics, says there appears to be a continuation of sellers’ renewed interest to participate in the market, but this is being counterbalanced by a lack of demand ...

RCMP official accused of leaks was acting on secret info from foreign agency: defence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

OTTAWA — A lawyer for Cameron Jay Ortis, a former RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking classified material, says Ortis was acting largely on secret information passed to him by a foreign agency. Lawyer Mark Ertel told a jury in Ontario Superior Court on Thursday that Ortis would testify about what he did and why he did it. “He protected Canada from serious and imminent threats,” he said.But Ertel cautioned that Ortis would be limited in what he could say, as he has a problem that defendants in other criminal cases do not face.“His actions were in large part a result of secret information communicated to him by a foreign agency,” Ertel said. “And he’s going to be forbidden from telling you what the information was or what the foreign agency was. So he’s defending himself with one hand tied behind his back.”Following Ertel’s remarks, reporters and the general public were excluded from the courtroom for Ortis’s appear...

More funding, laws can stop anti-Muslim online hate from causing violence: senators

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

A Senate committee says anti-Muslim hate needs to be met with the creation of new criminal offences, more education and less bias in federal tax audits.A report by the upper chamber’s human-rights committee says Islamophobia is being spread online and over the airwaves, and argues this is contributing to a rise in documented hate crimes against Muslims.Committee head Sen. Salma Ataullahjan says communities across the country have experienced incidents that seem to violate criminal laws but are not prosecuted.The senators say they’d like to see ramped-up efforts to weed out bias within the Canada Revenue Agency, following audits of Muslim charities that advocates argued were excessive.Ataullahjan also says the government’s special representative on combating Islamophobia needs a budget beyond the $5.6 million over five years that was allocated in January, saying there is a clear need for better public education.The committee says it wants federal human-rights bodies...

US announces $440 million to install solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it will disburse $440 million to install solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory struggles with ongoing power outages and a crumbling electric grid.Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who is visiting Puerto Rico for the sixth time this year, said the department has selected a group of nonprofits and solar companies for the project, which will target up to 40,000 homes. Eligible households would be located in impoverished communities that experience frequent power outages or have a person with a disability that depends on power, such as a dialysis patient.Granholm said $400 million will be awarded to three solar companies and $40 million to five nonprofit organizations. The first installations are expected to start by early next year, according to the Department of Energy.“Right now, Puerto Rico is number five in the country in terms of per capita of solar installations. W...

South Carolina has lethal injection drug but justices want more info before restarting executions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s highest court apparently is not ready to allow the state to restart executions after more than 12 years until they hear more arguments about newly obtained lethal injection drugs as well as a recently added firing squad and the old electric chair.The state Supreme Court set a Feb. 6 date for a hearing over a lawsuit by four death row inmates out of appeals who initially argued dying by electrocution or bullets to the heart is cruel and unusual punishment.South Carolina has not carried out an execution since 2011 after the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired and companies refused to sell them more unless the transaction could be kept secret.The state passed a shield law earlier this year to hide the identities of drug companies, the names of anyone helping with an execution and the exact procedure followed. In September, prison officials announced they now have the sedative pentobarbital and changed the method of executi...

Wisconsin could become first state with an official cocktail: What they're picking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:43 GMT

(WFRV) — There is no hiding that the state of Wisconsin has plenty of residents who indulge in a couple of drinks over the weekend. After all, Wisconsin is home to the most excessive drinkers in the country.Whether it's a Miller Lite, a Bloody Mary, or an Ice Cream Drink, Wisconsinites love their alcohol, and state lawmakers are playing along.State lawmakers are proposing a resolution declaring the Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned the official state cocktail. Your Old Fashioned won’t be the same in Wisconsin: Here’s why If you aren't from Wisconsin, you're probably wondering how an Old Fashioned could be any different in the Badger State compared to any other. It's all because of brandy. There are three alcoholic bases you'll typically find in an Old Fashioned: gin, bourbon, and whiskey, with the latter being arguably the most popular. Except in Wisconsin, where for some reason or another, it's brandy you'll most likely find in your Old Fashioned.It's also muddled, a process that's l...